New Hoosier

Tom St.Clair

New member
Hi all,

I m from Indy.
I have been cooking in Cast for almost 50 years. I was first introduced to using & caring for CI at age 11 when I joined Boy Scouts. Then remained active in Scouts for 35+years.
By age 14 I had started acquiring pieces for personal use.
About half of the pieces have been new Lodge. But I have bought some from yard sales, garage sales and flea markets. I also have been given some pieces.

over the past 15 or so years I have all but stopped using my cast iron to cook in.
In the past 6 months I have decided I need to get all my CI out cleaned & put back to use.
I watched some YouTube videos about the best way to get it back into shape. There I saw everything... Fire, sandblasting, sanding, wire wheels, Self Cleaning Ovens, oven cleaner... Then saw other videos saying how any & all of those methods were BAD. And if you used any of them that your "eternal wellbeing" was in danger......
Then I found this site & have been reading here. & finally decided to Join the group.

Anyway.....In getting out my the pieces I have readily available I have "found" a few pieces that surprised me.......like a #10 Wapak Indian Head, Wagner #11 Arc/straight Sydney O, Lodge 3 notch.
as well as an "unmarked" #9. The unmarked has either an "8, B or 3" on the bottom right by the handle.
All of these have a bit of seasoning built up on them making some of the markings hard to see.
 
thanks
Now I need to figure out if I need a lye tank, e-tank, or both.
and then figure out where to put either/both. We don't have a garage or an out building with power.
We do have an unfinished basement that only we go into....but not sure about potential fumes.
 
If you can, do both. The lye tank will do the bulk of the work while the e-tank will finish it nicely. I only have a lye bath, then the scrubbing begins!

I don't have a place to do an e-tank since I'm in an apartment without a balcony/porch.
 
Welcome Tom,
I keep my lye tank under the eaves of my house. I wouldn't recommend an enclosed space for the E tank. The process releases hydrogen so ventilation is important.
 
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